What is general insurance?
When people think of general insurance, the main policies they think of are buildings cover, contents cover or buildings & contents together. Although these are the most mainstream policies, there are also other policies available such as Landlords insurance or ASU (accident, sickness and unemployment).
How does buildings & contents cover work?
The answer depends on the type of cover you have. Buildings cover works in the way that it protects your property, it’s structure and it’s fixtures and fittings in the event that these are damaged as a result of unexpected life events such as fire, extreme weather conditions, burst water pipes or subsidence. As an optional extra, you can even have cover if damage is a result of an accident. If a claim is made, the policy will cover the cost to get the property back to it’s original state.
Contents cover works very similar to buildings however as it says in the name, it covers the contents inside the property such as electricals, carpets and furniture in the event of theft or damage. Like buildings, as an optional extra, you can also have accidental damage cover for those mishaps.
Landlords insurance
Landlords insurance is a very similar policy to a standard buildings & contents policy however it’s built for landlords rather than occupants.
By having a policy in place, not only can you have peace of mind that should the buildings or the contents be damaged, you are covered, but also that if damage is caused by tenants, you will not be at a financial loss rectifying this.
Landlords insurance also gives you the option to cover things such as loss of rental income, legal expenses cover and eviction costs. Not things you want to think about but things you must consider when being a landlord.
ASU insurance (accident, sickness and unemployment)
You may choose between three main types of cover:
- Accident & sickness
- Unemployment
- Accident, sickness & unemployment
The great thing about the policy is that you can have one or all three of the covers meaning you can plug the gaps you have.
For example, does your current employer offer a generous redundancy package? Great, then you might not need unemployment cover but would still benefit from accident & sickness cover!
Likewise, you may have an income protection policy which covers your mortgage repayments and cost of living but your employer doesn’t offer a redundancy package. On that basis, unemployment cover is the one for you.
Whatever you choose, the maximum length for a mortgage protection plan is usually 12 months. In some cases, you may be eligible for a 24-month long plan.
This will give you time to apply for new jobs, without fear of missing important mortgage payments and increasing your interest rate.
Do I really need it?
Buildings & contents
As mentioned above, buildings insurance is a legal condition of a mortgage offer so if you have taken out a mortgage, in short, the answer is yes.
Even if you haven’t taken out a mortgage, we strongly suggest that you have a buildings cover in place as should the worst happen, it is unlikely there are funds available to replace or rebuild and even if there are, would you really want to use these rather than pay a small amount a month?
Adding contents cover to a buildings policy doesn’t usually cost much and offers you that extra peace of mind that if something is damaged within the property, you won’t have to fork out the funds to replace the damaged items.
ASU (accident, sickness and unemployment)
Even if you do have a an income protection policy, this won’t cover you for unemployment. With that in mind, ASU is always a good idea either to supplement an income protection policy or to cover all three areas in one.
Still debating? Drop in for a chat with one of our experts at a time that suits you for a free initial consultation where we’ll talk through all your needs and requirements.